Motorbike rally held to create awareness on territorial army

A group of 28 local youth organised a bike rally from Mumbai to Pune to spread awareness about the Territorial Army (TA). The rally, which began from the Gateway of India on Monday, traversed the 183 km distance in 11 hours, before concluding at the Shivaji Preparatory School in Pune in the evening, Bhushan Joshi, a participant, said.

The Territorial Army in India (TA) is an organisation of volunteers who receive military training for a few days in a year so that in case of an emergency they can be mobilised for the defence of the country.

It is not a profession, occupation or a source of employment. It is only meant for those who are already in mainstay civilian professions.

"Not many people know about TA, so there is a need to spread awareness about it," he said. Anyone who is a graduate, in the age group 18-42 and earning around Rs 7,000 a month can apply for TA and details can be found on the Army website indianarmy.nic.in, he said.

More such rallies will be held, Manoj Sanap, assistant director (Information and Public Relations) in Mantralaya, said.